Part of a package of four bills to re-introduce the biannual indexation of fuel excise and excise-equivalent fuel duties, the bill establishes the Fuel Indexation (Road Funding) special account to make grants of financial assistance to the states and territories for expenditure in relation to road infrastructure investment.

to provide that the deductible amount for defined benefit income streams, excluding military defined benefits schemes, is capped at a maximum 10 per cent of the gross payments to an individual for the income year.

The bill: establishes the Office of Animal Welfare as an independent statutory authority with responsibility for advising on the protection of animal welfare in Commonwealth regulated activities; provides for the functions, appointment, and terms and conditions of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO); provides for staff and consultants; establishes the Office of Animal Welfare Advisory Committee to advise the CEO; and provides for reporting requirements.

to: adjust the licensing regime by enabling the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) to regulate remediation activities involving contaminated legacy sites, issue time limited licences, and issue single licences for multiple activities; clarify the application of the Act to contractors and others working with Commonwealth entities; provide ARPANSA with increased capacity to respond to emergencies and with increased compliance monitoring and enforcement powers; and make technical amendments.

to: discontinue quarterly reporting to the minister; clarify which dealings may be authorised by inadvertent dealings licences; update advertising requirements for public consultations; remove the requirement that the Gene Technology Regulator maintain a record of genetically modified product approvals made by other agencies; amend licence variation requirements; and make technical amendments.

to: provide for the determination of an airport plan for Sydney West Airport; and provide options should Southern Cross Airports Corporation decline an offer to develop the airport; and Airports (Building Control) Regulations 1996 and Airports Regulations 1997 to make consequential amendments. Also provides for transitional arrangements.

Introduced with the Excise Tariff Amendment (Ethanol and Biodiesel) Bill 2015, the bill amends: the

Customs Act 1901

to provide that: excise-equivalent customs duty cannot be extinguished on imported fuel ethanol and biodiesel; and excise-equivalent customs duty is payable on the biofuels component of an imported blend of fuel; the

Excise Act 1901

to: provide that the exemption from the blending rule also applies where biofuels have been subject to different rates of duty; and remove the requirement that biofuel blends that have been subject to duty cannot be blended with other duty-paid fuels without being subject to excise duty; the

Fuel Tax Act 2006

to require that fuel tax credits for fuel ethanol, and biodiesel and blends including certain biofuels are calculated as if they had been subject to the excise rate of duty, whether locally manufactured or imported; and four Acts to make consequential amendments. Also repeals the

Introduced with the Energy Grants and Other Legislation Amendment (Ethanol and Biodiesel) Bill 2015, the bill amends the

Excise Tariff Act 1921

to: reduce the rates of excise duty for domestically manufactured fuel ethanol and biodiesel to nil for one year from 1 July 2015; increase the rate of excise duty for domestically manufactured fuel ethanol on 1 July of each subsequent year until the final rates are reached on 1 July 2020; and increase the rate of excise duty for domestically manufactured fuel biodiesel on 1 July of each subsequent year until the final rates are reached on 1 July 2030.

to: ensure that the minister retains the power to issue a person with a travel-related document to facilitate a lawful requirement for a person to travel; provide more certainty as to who is required to consent to a child passport; provide that the minister may refuse to process a passport application if there are reasonable grounds to suspect fraud or dishonesty in the application; and amend and add offences; and 12 Acts to make consequential amendments. Also repeals the